


Sweaters and tribes

by AngelynMoon



Category: The Sentinel (TV)
Genre: Boyfriend sweaters, Gen, Knitting, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-22
Updated: 2019-11-22
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:53:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21529366
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AngelynMoon/pseuds/AngelynMoon
Summary: In which Blair knows how to knit and Jim steals sweaters, but not really.
Relationships: Jim Ellison/Blair Sandburg
Comments: 3
Kudos: 33





	Sweaters and tribes

Summary: In which Blair knits and JIm realizes that he's in love, he's surprisingly okay with that.

\----

Jim doesn't know where they come from, but he knows they are comfortable and they are warm. He likes how they feel against his skin and the way they smell reminds him of Blair and home and when he's alone it grounds him like Blair normally does.

Simon makes one remark about Jim suddenly wearing sweaters when he normally just wore heavy jackets before and then as they became the norm Simon never mentioned them again except to comment on the designs.

Most of the sweaters are plain, one color or maybe two but sometimes they can be a clash of color, like someone was trying to use up all of the extra yarn they had.

Jim doesn't think too much of where the sweaters came from, he figured that maybe Blair had found them someplace and left them around and Jim had stolen them by accident, Blair never commented when he saw Jim with one on, if anything the other man seemed pleased that Jim wore the sweaters.

Jim didn't care, it was hard finding sweaters that didn't irratate his sensitive skin and didn't bother any of his other senses as well, the afgan that appeared on the back of the couch one day was much the same, smelling of Blair and home and Jim, because long days at the precinct usually found Jim curled under that blanket, half asleep on the couch, or Blair drawing it down to cover Jim after he'd fallen asleep watching the game.

It doesn't occur to him that Blair is the one that makes the sweaters, the blankets, the socks and gloves that appear in his jacket pocket one cold winter morning as he's rushing out the door in answer to a call from Simon. Doesn't occur to him that the click clack that comes from Blair's room is not only from the young man's typing. It doesn't occur to Jim that maybe there had been times when Blair had to make his clothing rather than buying them or even unraveling old clothing to create new clothes.

It's not until Rhonda comments on one of Blair's own sweaters that Jim makes the connection.

Blair laughs and tells Rhonda that he made the sweater, all delicate and patterned and beautiful but in a masculine way.

Rhonda coos over it and Blair smiles and asks if she would like something, a shawl, not a sweater much to Jim's confusion. Rhonda is delighted and she insists on buying the yarn for Blair and Blair promises to bring patterns for her to look at next time he comes in.

Jim thinks nothing of it, not really, he notices the differences in the clicking from Blair's room and closes his eyes to focus on the slip slide of the yarn around Blair's fingers as he loops it over the needles. Blair still does not bring his projects out of his room to work on but soon enough Rhonda wears a lovely silvery-blue shawl-like coat into the precinct that has all of the other ladies cooing and complimenting over it. Blair smiles when he overhears some of them and Jim smiles too, he can tell how proud Blair is over his work.

And perhaps Jim is feeling jealous when he buys the soft yarn while he is tailing one of their suspects, throwing several Skiens of it into his basket as he follows the man to the registers, Blair hasn't made him a sweater in a while, or even a pair of socks and Jim wants Blair to make him new gloves but is unsure if the other man wants him to know about his little hobby.

The suspect makes their move and Jim is suddenly focused on aprehending them before they can hurt someone else and he forgets the yarn as he runs after them and he catches them and cuffs them calling for the nearby patrol car to collect them and pauses after handing them over to the officers when he spots a young woman standing awkwardly at the edges of the gathered crowd with a bag from the store he was just in.

He goes to her, intending on getting her statement, but she smiles and hands the bag over.

"You forgot this in your rush." She smiles sweetly as he takes the bag, seeing the yarn he had been in the process of purchasing as well as a few added skiens.

"Thank you." Jim smiled.

"It's a nice change of pace to see a man who can work with yarn." The woman told him.

"I can't, it's for my partner." Jim said without thinking.

"Well, she's lucky to have you pick up yarn fo her then." The woman backtracked.

"Blair's not... he's not really into gender steriotypes, gets that from his mother, honestly." Jim informed her with a shrug.

The woman's eyes widened but she smiled at him anyway, "Well, they are still lucky, it's a very fine yarn, I hope Blair likes working with it and that you'll be back for more."

Jim nodded and then turned to the officer that approached him, not thinking once about the conclusions that the woman had drawn.

Blair noticed the yarn in his hand as soon as he walked in and laughed, asking Jim what it was he wanted, Jim debated but what came out of his mouth was not something that could be made.

"I want to watch you knit." Jim blurted and Blair's eyes widened but he nodded and went to collect a pair of needles.

He got comfortable on the couch next to Jim and settled back against the arm of the couch as he began, Jim followed his fingers for a time before he leaned over against Blair's shoulder.

Blair tried knitting with Jim there for a time before he had to shift them, soon Jim was laying against Blair's chest, the man's occupied hands around Jim's shoulders, his head tucked beneath Blair's chin as the man continued to knit.

At some point Blair pulled the afgan down over them and kept on with his project, the T.V. a soft background noise and the click clack of the needles and the swish of yarn through his hands lulling Jim into a restful sleep.

In the morning there was a brightly colored scarf resting on the back of the couch and Blair's hands were tucked into Jim's hair as he held the man to his chest.

Jim almost frowned but it was not an uncomfortable position, it was nice, and Blair's heart beating beneath his ear was soothing, his scent surrounding him and the feel if his fingers against his scalp made Jim hum and he almost allowed the feeling to drag him back down into sleep except the phone rang again making Jim wince as it assulted his hearing.

With a reluctant sigh Jim disintangled himself for Blair, brushing the man's hair soothingly as he climbed up off of the couch to get the phone.

Blair had a few exams later in the day so Jim gently roused him as he wrapped the bright scarf around his throat and handed Blair a cup of coffee with a smile and a kiss to his hair.

Blair gazed up at him, face scrunched up in confusion but Jim wasn't one to talk about feelings and he wasn't sure how to explain what he was feeling and perhaps he wasn't quite ready to put a name to what they were becoming, instead Jim pulled on one of his Blair made sweaters and his Blair made gloves and walked out the door, he'd figure out what words to to give Blair while at work.

It took a while, writing up statements from the day before and the young woman that had given him his yarn sat in a chair and smiled at the bright scarf that Jim still wore, ignoring the teasing from the other detectives at it's brightness.

"I see Blair was fast at work when you got home." The woman said, almost teasingly.

"Yeah." Jim tugged at the scarf, "It smells like him."

The woman made an 'awe' face.

"We... we aren't together, not like that..." Jim said as he started her statement, "But... it's getting there, I don't want to mess it up, we aren't always on the same page, if it's even the same book."

The woman smiled a little, "Afraid of sticking your foot in your mouth and sending him running?"

"Yes and no, I know he's not going anywhere, I've made some big mistakes, if he hasn't left yet, I know he won't go anywhere, I just want to make staying worth it for him." Jim told her.

"Jim." Blair said from behind him.

Jim whirled around to look at Blair in shock.

"You're right that I'm not going anywhere, if you never have the right words, if you never say any at all, I'm with you, I'm here." Blair said quietly as he leaned down into Jim's space, to any of the other officers in the room they would think that Blair was just grabbing a pen as he often did.

"Yeah?" Jim asked just as softly as he took in Blair's scent, his hair swishing against his cheek.

"Well, you don't just make sweaters for anyone you know, you really only make them for boyfriends, they're called boyfriend sweaters for a reason." Blair teased as he tugged lightly at the soft blue sweater Jim wore.

Jim grinned, "I can live with that."

"Sorry, to interrupt, truely, but the sooner you get my statement the sooner you can go off and do whatever it is you two do." The young woman said with an indulgent smile.

"Right." Jim said as he moved to type up the statement.

Blair laughed and pulled Jim's chair away, "If I let you chicken peck out her statement we'll be here all day, go get us some coffee and tea, I'll do it."

Jim got out of the chair and Blair took his place as Jim went to get coffee for the woman and tea for Blair and got a donut from the donut girl for Blair who he knew hadn't eaten since his breakfast of toast.

The young woman was signing her statement when Jim returned, putting the donut in Blair's hand and watching his face twist into betrayal as he had been expecting his tea instead.

"You need food." Jim shrugged.

"This is not food, it's sugar in a shapely, tasty form." Blair whined as he looked at that donut in horror and his face crumpled as he took another bite, "I hate you so much."

Jim merely smiled, "Next time take something to eat between exams, then I won't feed you donuts."

"Betrayal." Blair whispered as he finished the donut.

Blair shook the crumbs off his hands and someone slipped another donut into one of his hands as they passed and Blair looked at it, "All of you are betrayers." Blair mumbled as he ate that donut too.

"Drink your tea, Sandburg." Simon shouted from his office, "Or I'll buy a muffin."

Blair looked over, "That would be much healthier, you know."

"Eat the donut!" The dectectives shouted.

Blair sighed and ate the donut and the one after that before Rhonda took pity on him and brought him a Banana nut muffin, of which Jim stole half.

The young woman laughed as she was escorted from the presinct, they really were a cute couple, she hoped they made it.

\----

Two men, neither one young anymore sit together on an old couch under a worn afgan, the younger of the pair knits with shaking hands as the older one leans against his chest, listening to the click clack of needles against one another, the swish of yarn over his fingers as he wrapped it around the needles.

The elder of the pair wore a warm pair of black knitted socks, hands gloved in knitted blue gloves to match the knitted blue of his sweater and hanging up on a hook, waiting for him to leave the loft appartment was a brightly colored knitted scarf that he would wrap around his neck before he left.

And on the left hands of each man was a simple golden band that sometimes clanged softly against the younger man's needles, a sound that always made the elder grin.

In less than a week Blair's original disertation would finally be published, he had published a secondary one long ago to get his doctorate, but now with Jim retired and Blair feeling his age and wishing to travel they were finally in agreement on going public with Jim's senses, Blair was hoping that perhaps the document would help others like Jim, people who didn't know what was going on and who doctors couldn't help.

But by the time that the dissertation hit the bookstores Jim and Blair would be gone from Cascade, gone to a little tribe in Peru, the first stop of many, they wanted Blair to train their next Shaman and pass the Way on to them as Incacha had passed the Way to Blair so long ago.

They were finally ready to take that trip together, and perhaps they would stumble across other Sentinels and help them find their Guides.

Jim focused on Blair's heart beat beneath his ear, but his Guide would not knit for them, no, his Guide's knitting was for their tribe only, Jim turned his nose into the sweater that he had painstakingly knit for Blair one year under Joel's Wife's direction, it had been difficult and Jim had almost quit several times but it had been worth it to see Blair's face light up at the sight of his very own boyfriend sweater.

Jim had never been able to knit another sweater, no matter how hard he tried and so while Jim had many sweaters made by Blair's hand, Blair had only the one and so he had taken great care with it and perhaps the other man stole Jim's sweaters often, not that Jim minded, it made them smell more like Blair and he quite liked that.

Jim closed his eyes and let Blair's knitting send him off to sleep.

Their bags were packed, Simon was meeting them at the airport with Daryl and the rest of the tribe and then they would be gone, heading off to Peru and the unknown, but it would all be fine, their tribe would be safe, their Sentinel on watch and his Guide beside him.

They had made it.

All was well.

\----------

A/n: I don't know... the ending blindsided me, this was meant to be a cute little thing about Blair knitting all those sweaters that Jim wears in the series and then there were feeling and softness and love and I don't even know.

I'm ignoring the time period's homophobia and pretending that the world is all accepting, or you can assume that the Major Crimes people banded together when Jim and Blair came out together and that they glared the other departments into submission, because nobody hurts their anthropologist and if you hurt Jim you hurt Blair and if they hurt Blair well, no one is going to bother looking for the body.


End file.
